NIGERIA TOO DANGEROUS FOR BRITS

From the Wall Street Journal, June 7: “Gov. Goodluck Jonathan, who had taken over as head of Bayelsa state, reached out to an old friend from university days, a former Nigerian diplomat named Godknows Igali, to spearhead negotiations with MEND…”

So the fate of Nigeria is in the hands of Goodluck and Godknows and I did NOT make that up.

Britons should leave Nigerian oil delta – govt
Tom Ashby (w/Estelle Shirbon in Abuja), June 8, 2007 (Reuters)

WHO
British Foreign Office, Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, Royal Dutch Shell, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari (and his lawyer Festus Keyamo)
The Niger River Delta (click to enlarge)
WHAT
Briain advised its citizens to leave the oil-rich Niger River Delta region of Nigeria in the face of spiking unrest secondary to the Nigerian government’s refusal of bail to militia leader Dokubo-Asari.

WHEN
- Bail denied Dokubo-Asari June 8. Lebanese shipyard manager kidnapped June 8.
- The violence began climbing at the beginning of 2006 as an expression of protest against abuses by the oil companies by MEND (Movement for the emancipation of the Niger Delta) but ransom-rewarded kidnappings are becoming a mode of operation in the region.

WHERE
Bayelsa state, Delta state and Rivers state (capital: Port Harcourt), the river delta region at the heart of Nigeria’s oil production, refining and shipping.

WHY
- 180 foreign nationals, including 31 Brits, kidnapped the Niger Delta in the last 18 months
- Most Brits are already gone.
- 25% of Nigerian oil production capacity (772,000 barrels/day) cut.

QUOTES
- British Foreign Office: "We therefore advise British nationals to leave. If you stay, you do so at your own risk…"
- Keyamo: "We think the issues are bigger than Asari. He is only a symbol of the struggle…We want to tell Yar'Adua that there will be no solution to the violence in the Niger Delta unless he resolves the trial of Asari…"